10 Times WWE Screwed Wrestlers Out Of Huge Matches
These matches were set...until someone backstage hit the panic button.
Let’s face it: WWE has a long, storied history of building up massive matches on Premium Live Events… only to pull the plug at the last second. Whether it’s due to backstage politics, cold feet, or just plain bad booking, the company has made a habit of yanking the rug out from under its own talent roster. And when it happens, it’s not just frustrating—it’s downright heartbreaking.
We’re talking about moments that could’ve changed careers, saw massive title changes, shattered glass ceilings, or made history. Instead? They were scrapped, sidelined, or handed to someone else entirely. Sometimes it’s because WWE got too scared to take a risk. Other times, it’s because certain stars didn’t want to “do the job.” And occasionally, it just feels like the company enjoys messing with people’s emotions.
From last-minute replacements to historic opportunities that were never allowed to happen, these are the times WWE promised something huge… and then completely bottled it. The card is always subject to change - but that's usually when a talent ends up on the injury list.
So buckle up, because some of these still sting years later.
10. Bayley – WrestleMania 41
Bayley’s disappearance from WrestleMania 41 left many fans and critics reeling. Originally set to team with Lyra Valkyria for a Women’s Tag Team Championship match against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, the plan quickly fell apart when WWE aired a backstage segment during the Night 1 Countdown show. In that segment, Bayley was ambushed, and Adam Pearce declared her “injured,” pulling her from the match in a manner that was as sudden as it was definitive.
It later emerged that this “injury” was entirely planned, engineered weeks in advance. WWE had deliberately sidelined Bayley to pave the way for Becky Lynch’s return—a move that completely upended the match’s dynamics. With Bayley out, Lynch stepped in to embark on the first phase of her heel turn, marking a calculated pivot in the storyline rather than a reaction to genuine adversity. This wasn’t an unforeseen hiccup, but a clear signal of WWE’s intent to reconfigure the card for maximum impact.
The fallout was immediate and personal. Devoted fans flooded social media with disappointment, feeling that Bayley, a veteran who had given her all and helped shape the women’s division, was unjustly overlooked. Bayley herself alluded to being let down by the sudden change, in an interview with Chris Van Vliet, turning what should have been a celebrated moment into a controversial sidestep that still lingers as a sore point among the WWE faithful.